27/02/25

A refreshed strategy that sets out the direction for homelessness prevention and housing-related support in Cardiff has underlined the considerable achievements made in delivering services over the past two years.

In the midst of the capital's housing emergency and despite the tough challenges the crisis has brought, Cardiff Council has made significant progress against the key aims of its Housing Support Programme Strategy 2022-2026.

Since the implementation of the strategy, the Council has reached a number of milestones that support the strategy's vision, including improving homeless prevention services and when prevention is not  possible, ensuring that cases of homelessness are rare, brief and not repeated.

All local authorities in Wales are required to develop a strategy and the current plan, which has been reviewed at the request of Welsh Government to ensure its priorities are still relevant, was considered by Cabinet today (February 27).

The revised plan has been informed by an updated needs assessment and feedback from public consultation on housing and homelessness services carried out last year.

Achievements over the lifetime of the strategy so far include the delivery of 253 new council homes since January 2023 via the Council's housing development programme, more than 150 new units of accommodation delivered in partnership with the city's Registered Social Landlords, and a range of new permanent and supported housing for young people.

The LETS (Landlord Enquiry & Tenants Services) team has been created to support private landlords and delivered 93 affordable homes via Leasing Scheme Wales.

The Homeless Multi-Disciplinary Team has been expanded to deliver services for those who experience repeated homelessness and a Young Persons Multi-Disciplinary Team has been established to support 16-25 year-olds with complex needs through specialised outreach and therapeutic interventions.

Waiting times for a homeless prevention appointment have reduced from 36 working days in July 2022 to five working days in October 2024, with prevention services now available in community hubs across the city, making services more accessible. In 2023/24, 77% of households threatened with homelessness were prevented from becoming homeless.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "As we continue to tackle severe challenges, it's sometimes easy to forget the successes we have had. There is a lot to be proud of in our housing and homelessness services.

"But despite this progress, we are still experiencing unprecedented demand and exceptional pressures."

The stark reality of the ongoing housing challenges in Cardiff are laid bare in figures included in the report, that show that between 2020/21 and 2023/24:

• The number of households threatened with homelessness increased by more than 20% (from 1,701 to 2,149 households)
• There has been a 108% increase in the number of people threatened with homelessness due to the loss of rented accommodation
• The number of households found to be homeless, where the local authority has a legal duty to provide permanent, settled housing has increased by 66% (from 431 to 714 households)
• There has been a 24% increase in those waiting for social housing from 7,700 in November 2021 to 9,500 in November 2024
• Social Housing lets have reduced by 17%, from 1,504 to 1,248, meaning that people can remain on the Housing Waiting List for many years.

Cllr Thorne continued: "The figures in the report speak for themselves - they paint a picture of more people than ever before needing our help, driven by factors such as issues within the private rented sector in Cardiff and a rise in the number of prison leavers requiring support.

"Ensuring everyone receives the right help and support and providing good quality supported accommodation for those who need it remain key aims for us. We need more social housing because even with new schemes like Ty Ephraim, Adams Court and the Gasworks, demand still outstrips supply.

"Delivering new planned supported housing schemes for single people, improving existing provision and continuing to deliver good quality supported accommodation for families to reduce the current need to use hotels are priorities for us and I'm pleased to say, we're already making excellent in-roads with the purchase of number of additional schemes that will boost the availability of good quality, affordable housing alongside our award-winning council housing development programme."

The full report is available  here